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Jonathan Wakely advises clients on a range of significant international trade, national security, and public policy matters. Mr. Wakely joined the firm after serving as a political analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, where he provided strategic analysis to the President and other senior policymakers.

Drawing on his government experience, Mr. Wakely represents clients worldwide seeking national security approval for foreign investments before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and clients seeking to mitigate foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) under national industrial security regulations. He has advised clients on some of the most sensitive and complex transactions, including in the energy and information technology sectors.

In the trade and public policy area, Mr. Wakely advises clients on trade and other international policy matters and in disputes involving the World Trade Organization, bilateral investment treaties, and free trade agreements. A former CIA specialist in Africa and Central Asia, Mr. Wakely helps clients assess and mitigate political and legal risk and solve market access and other problems surrounding investments in the developing world. He has also represented private companies and sovereign states before Congress and the executive branch, including by designing and executing government relations campaigns to achieve policy, regulatory, and legislative goals.

In remarks last night, President Obama announced his long-planned executive actions to reform the U.S. immigration system. The President will sign the first of such orders today, despite intense opposition from Republicans in Congress, who believe that the President’s actions are outside the law and contrary to Congress’s authority to legislate federal immigration policy. In … Continue Reading

On July 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided Ralls Corporation v. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — the first ruling by a federal circuit court on a CFIUS case. Ralls, a U.S. company owned by two Chinese nationals, sued CFIUS in connection with an order by … Continue Reading